The Love Of Money - S01 E276

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The Love Of Money - S01 E276

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 276

The backs of my eyes started to sting, and I looked away, blinking rapidly and trying to pull myself together. I didn't want to break down in front of the guy whose husband died, but goddamn if Dan’s words tried their best to pull tears out of me. I caught Erin watching me with the sweetest smile on her face, and I returned it with a weak one of my own.

Once my feelings were back under control, I looked back at Dan. “I’m glad I could do that for him, then,” I said. "I still mean it. Dan, if you still want to follow through with it, just let me know. I’ll do everything in my power to help you out. You don’t have to worry about the money. It’ll be paid for.”

Dan’s face screwed up, and fresh tears started to brim at the corners of his eyes.

“I’m also happy to help out however else. Childcare… medical… education. I wish Ray could have been here with you, but I’d like to do everything in my power to make you and your family’s lives as easy as possible. He seemed like a good man, and I want to honor his sacrifice.”

“Thank you,” Ray’s husband mouthed, unable to voice the words. He pulled me in for another hug and started to openly weep. I placed a tentative hand on his back and rubbed it as I looked around at the people, most of them watching. I really didn’t want an audience for this.

After a few moments, Dan let me go, gave me another tearful thanks, and retreated to be with his family.

“That was a good thing you did,” Chloe said, and I looked behind me to see my bodyguard watching me. Her brown eyes were much brighter than usual, and I could have sworn I saw her bottom lip tremble slightly before she sucked it between her teeth until it disappeared… likely to prevent me from seeing past a tough exterior worn so thin that it was barely more than a thin film.

“It wasn’t that great,” I said, looking back at Dan with his family. “I just wish I could give him his husband back. It's like... no matter what I do, it's just not enough. I guess some things just can’t be bought.”

Chloe and I stood in silence, watching Ray’s family and friends commiserate quietly with each other for several moments. Then, out of the blue, Chloe said, “About the other day…”

I started to look back at her, but my eyes caught the sight of Natashya and Emily approaching. Chloe immediately dropped whatever she was about to say and backed off, giving me some space. Natashya hung back as Emily closed the distance between us, speaking quietly with Erin and giving the siblings a few moments alone.

“Hey,” I said, not quite sure what to say after the way we ended things. “Thanks for coming.”

“Of course,” Emily said, giving me a small smile of sympathy. “I wanted to. He was protecting all three of us. I didn’t know him well…”

She seemed to be searching for words that she couldn’t quite find.

“None of us did,” I offered. “I didn’t know anything about him till that afternoon before he died.”

I looked down at the casket, regretting even more that I hadn’t known more about Ray before he died. He’d been a whole person with hopes, dreams, aspirations… and I felt like I’d barely scratched the surface of what he was.

My gaze lifted, and I saw a figure standing near a tree halfway across the cemetery. Something about how he stood and the brimmed hat resting on his head made me certain Henry Psalter was standing there, waiting to talk to me. Chloe had said it wasn’t good news, and somehow, even standing what felt like half a football field away, the old spook’s demeanor gave me the impression that she was right. I needed to talk to him… but I couldn’t leave things like they were with Emily.

“I don’t want to walk away from this conversation without things being okay, Em. What’s it gonna take?”

“I don’t know,” Emily said. “I’m having a hard time understanding how you can justify Bobbi after what happened to Natashya.”

“It’s not the same thing,” I said. A few days ago, I might have been saying that to convince myself as much as her, but I genuinely believed it now. I only hoped I could persuade her as easily as I'd convinced myself.

“Why?” Emily asked. Her voice was quietly insistent.

“If Natashya’s captors had opened the door and told her to leave, she would have been gone before they could change their mind. I basically did that with Bobbi, and it just pissed her off.”

Emily stared at me for a long moment. “I want to meet her,” she finally said.

I shrugged and said, “Sure. Come on—”

“Just me and her,” Emily said, cutting me off.

“Okay. When? Tomorrow?”

“Not tomorrow,” Emily said. “I have a rehearsal.”

“For what?”

“The part I had before we left for Vegas,” she said. “The other girl dropped out.” Emily looked at me carefully and said, “There was some kind of disagreement between her and the director after the theater got a new benefactor.” She stared at me expectantly for a beat, and when I didn’t immediately respond, she said, “Please tell me that wasn’t you trying to buy your way back into my good graces.”

“Would that have worked?” I asked. “Because if so, I would’ve done that.”

“You didn’t?”

“No,” I said, bewildered. “I mean, I’m probably the benefactor. I donated a lot of money to the theater—”

Emily looked confused. “Wait…”

“But that was before the party this weekend. Remember me telling the rest of the family how I wanted to help them? I didn’t get around to telling you what I wanted to do for you. That was part of it.”

“So it was you!”

“No! I didn’t talk to the director or producer or anything… not about your part! I was thinking about greasing the wheels a little for future roles, but I wouldn’t strong-arm them like that. I mean, unless you really wanted me to, maybe.”

“Okay,” Emily said carefully. “I’ll talk to the producer and see if I can get a name.”

I nodded, looking back in Psalter’s direction. He was still there, standing exactly as I’d last seen him, looking more like a monument to a long-dead denizen of the cemetery than a man. “There’s someone I need to talk to, Em. Just tell me what I need to do.”

“She has a phone, right?”

“Bobbi? I gave her one,” I said.

“Good. Give me her number. I’ll meet her for coffee or something.”

“No drinks,” I said. “Coffee or food only. She’s had a drug problem. The last thing she needs—”

“I know,” Emily said. She’d suffered a drug problem that probably rivaled anything Bobbi had experienced, so when she said she knew…

“Okay. I’ll text it to you.”

Emily gave me a small smile. “Good. I hope you’re right.” She hugged herself and looked back at Natashya, who was still talking to Erin as they watched us. “Goodbye, Marcus. I’ll talk to you soon.”

I watched as Erin and Natashya exchanged hugs and kisses before the dancer and my sister departed, walking across the cemetery toward wherever they were parked. Erin stepped beside me, and we watched as the two ladies left. About a hundred feet away, a lone figure appeared from behind a large stone statue of a young woman and followed the pair. Alarm bells started going off in my head.

“He’s one of ours,” Chloe said, stepping beside me.

“Oh good,” I said, relieved. “I don’t think I’ve seen him before.”

“He’s new,” she said.

“What’s his name?”

“Jonathan.”

After giving a few rounds of hugs and handshakes to funeral attendees—including a long hug from Shea—I crossed the cemetery toward the lone figure still standing under the tree. Chloe silently trailed behind me while Erin stayed with the funeral party to handle any loose ends.

“Mr. Upton,” Henry Psalter said as I crossed under the shade of the tree he stood under.

“Mr. Psalter,” I said back.

“How was the funeral?” he asked.

“It was sad. One of the saddest I’ve been to.”

“That’s because you bear some measure of the responsibility for this one,” he said.

It was true, but it stung, and the words made me stop mid-stride as they hit me between the eyes. It was the first time someone else said out loud what I’d been thinking.

“I know,” I replied, annoyed.

“Make no mistake,” he said, pulling one hand out of his pocket and raising it in a placating gesture. “I’m not suggesting you're to blame. I'm simply pointing out that our actions have consequences, and powerful men’s actions have powerful consequences.”

“Is this why you're here?” I asked. “To find some unique way of telling me that with great power comes great responsibility?”

“Not at all,” Henry said. “I’m no Ben Parker.”

“Then can we get to the point? I’m not in the mood.”

“Amber Bell was most definitely in Alexandria, Virginia,” he said.